CONTENT STANDARD A: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Understandings about scientific inquiry
What this standard means: Students will be engaged in both full and partial inquiry lessons that involve questioning, investigation, gathering of evidence, coming up with a conclusion, and communicating the investigation process and results. The students will gain background knowledge and learn to use this knowledge to apply to their investigations. This standard includes:
Identifying questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
What students need to know (prior knowledge): Students will need to have experience making observations so that they can apply these observations to their background knowledge in order to come up with results of their findings. They must have some existing understanding of scientific ideas and information that can be applied to their inquiry of science. Common Misconceptions: Students and teachers might misinterpret this standard as the learning the scientific method. There is a logical order to this process, but there is less of a rigid structure to scientific inquiry. Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C: As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of
Reproduction and heredity
What this standard means: Reproduction takes place in all living things and is essential to the continuation of every species. The idea is that the egg and sperm unite and develop a new individual, which receives genetic information from the mother and father through the egg and sperm. The hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell’s nucleus. What students need to know (prior knowledge): Students will be exposed to organisms, ecosystems, and cells of living systems. They should have an understanding of species interactions in communities and their environments. Students should also know the basic process of sexual reproduction in humans. Common Misconceptions: Students might have misconceptions about the sperm and egg of human sexual reproduction and their role in creating offspring compared to reproduction in plants, which also involved sperm and eggs. Students will also think of heredity simply as the observable traits that are passed through generations. They will not yet make connections between the sexual reproduction process and the passing of genetic material in the sex cells.
Grade Span Expections
LS4- Humans are similar to other species in many ways and are unique among Earth's forms.
LS4 (5-8) Using data provided, select evidence that supports the concept that genetic information is passed on from both parents to offspring.
LS4 (7-8)-11 Students demonstrate an understanding of human heredity by
11a- recognizing that characteristics of an organism result from inherited traits of one or more genes from the parents and others results from interactions with the environment.
What does this mean?
The student needs to understand the difference between genes and traits. To understand inheritance, the concept of meiosis must be covered and the idea of passing traits on to offspring. The students must be able to distinguish between traits that are inherited versus traits that result from interactions with the environment.
What do they need to know?
The students need to have a grasp on mitosis before the meiosis process if covered. They need to know characteristic that are being observed and the fact that the inheritance that is being studied can be applied to all living things.
What are the common misconceptions?
A common misconception when it comes to inheritance is that the offspring inherits a mixture of their parents traits. For example, if the father has brown hair and the mother has blond hair, they might expect the offspring to have light brown hair. They might not be familiar with the ideas of dominant and recessive genes.
11b- tracing a genetic characteristic through a given pedigree to demonstrate the passage of traits.
What does this mean?
The student will apply what they will learn about inheritance and be able to apply it to a pedigree. This involves using real data and examples to observe proof of the passing of genetic traits.
What do they need to know?
The students need to have an idea about how genes are passed through generations. They need to know what they will be looking for in a pedigree and how to read one as well as apply one to their own lives.
What are the common misconceptions?
Some common misconceptions of the passing of genetic characteristic might be that the offspring will inherit any genetic disease that the parents have. The idea of a trait skipping a generation, or an offspring being a carrier of a disease might be completely new knowledge for the students.
11c- identifying that genetic material (i.e. chromosomes and genes) is located in the cell's nucleus.
What does this mean?
The students need to know where all of this takes place. They will have seen the chromosomes and they will investigate the passing of traits through a pedigree, but they need to know where and how this all takes place in the body.
What do they need to know?
They need to be able to recognize and apply the terms chromosome, genes, traits, alleles, etc. They will know the purpose and application of each term, and they will be learning how this all takes place in the body.
What are common misconceptions?
Students will have an abstract idea about how traits are passed. They might think that the chromosomes are in the cell, but they might not be able to explain that everything is taking place in the nucleus.
National Standards
CONTENT STANDARD A:As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop
What this standard means:
Students will be engaged in both full and partial inquiry lessons that involve questioning, investigation, gathering of evidence, coming up with a conclusion, and communicating the investigation process and results. The students will gain background knowledge and learn to use this knowledge to apply to their investigations.
This standard includes:
What students need to know (prior knowledge):
Students will need to have experience making observations so that they can apply these observations to their background knowledge in order to come up with results of their findings. They must have some existing understanding of scientific ideas and information that can be applied to their inquiry of science.
Common Misconceptions:
Students and teachers might misinterpret this standard as the learning the scientific method. There is a logical order to this process, but there is less of a rigid structure to scientific inquiry.
Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:
As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of
What this standard means:
Reproduction takes place in all living things and is essential to the continuation of every species. The idea is that the egg and sperm unite and develop a new individual, which receives genetic information from the mother and father through the egg and sperm. The hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell’s nucleus.
What students need to know (prior knowledge):
Students will be exposed to organisms, ecosystems, and cells of living systems. They should have an understanding of species interactions in communities and their environments. Students should also know the basic process of sexual reproduction in humans.
Common Misconceptions:
Students might have misconceptions about the sperm and egg of human sexual reproduction and their role in creating offspring compared to reproduction in plants, which also involved sperm and eggs. Students will also think of heredity simply as the observable traits that are passed through generations. They will not yet make connections between the sexual reproduction process and the passing of genetic material in the sex cells.
Grade Span Expections
LS4- Humans are similar to other species in many ways and are unique among Earth's forms.LS4 (5-8) Using data provided, select evidence that supports the concept that genetic information is passed on from both parents to offspring.
LS4 (7-8)-11 Students demonstrate an understanding of human heredity by
11a- recognizing that characteristics of an organism result from inherited traits of one or more genes from the parents and others results from interactions with the environment.
What does this mean?
The student needs to understand the difference between genes and traits. To understand inheritance, the concept of meiosis must be covered and the idea of passing traits on to offspring. The students must be able to distinguish between traits that are inherited versus traits that result from interactions with the environment.
What do they need to know?
The students need to have a grasp on mitosis before the meiosis process if covered. They need to know characteristic that are being observed and the fact that the inheritance that is being studied can be applied to all living things.
What are the common misconceptions?
A common misconception when it comes to inheritance is that the offspring inherits a mixture of their parents traits. For example, if the father has brown hair and the mother has blond hair, they might expect the offspring to have light brown hair. They might not be familiar with the ideas of dominant and recessive genes.
11b- tracing a genetic characteristic through a given pedigree to demonstrate the passage of traits.
What does this mean?
The student will apply what they will learn about inheritance and be able to apply it to a pedigree. This involves using real data and examples to observe proof of the passing of genetic traits.
What do they need to know?
The students need to have an idea about how genes are passed through generations. They need to know what they will be looking for in a pedigree and how to read one as well as apply one to their own lives.
What are the common misconceptions?
Some common misconceptions of the passing of genetic characteristic might be that the offspring will inherit any genetic disease that the parents have. The idea of a trait skipping a generation, or an offspring being a carrier of a disease might be completely new knowledge for the students.
11c- identifying that genetic material (i.e. chromosomes and genes) is located in the cell's nucleus.
What does this mean?
The students need to know where all of this takes place. They will have seen the chromosomes and they will investigate the passing of traits through a pedigree, but they need to know where and how this all takes place in the body.
What do they need to know?
They need to be able to recognize and apply the terms chromosome, genes, traits, alleles, etc. They will know the purpose and application of each term, and they will be learning how this all takes place in the body.
What are common misconceptions?
Students will have an abstract idea about how traits are passed. They might think that the chromosomes are in the cell, but they might not be able to explain that everything is taking place in the nucleus.